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Installing Windows XP in DOS Over a Previous Windows
9x Installation
Version 1.07 (Revisions)
By G.Ganesh
Windows XP is a cool new operating system. But, no
matter how good a product is, it also comes with its
own fair share of headaches.
DISCLAIMER: Proceed at your own risk! The information
here is accurate to the best of my knowledge. I will
not be held responsible if this document causes your
computer to explode or burst into flames. In real serious
terms, if any corruption of data, hardware damage or
any other kind of damage/losses/etc. arises from
the use of this document, I will not be responsible
for it. If you don't like this, please don't read any
further.
This document outlines the steps of how to [re]install
Windows XP in a computer with a Win9x, 2000 or XP operating
system. Basically, it shows how to backup stuff, delete
the previous OS and install XP without formatting
the hard disk.
For those geeks who just want to install XP
straight from DOS without the necessary preparations
(or if you have done it), go here.
Is this document intended for you?
You meet the System Requirements for Windows XP
You want to install a new copy of XP while avoiding
formatting and upgrading from your current OS of Win9x.
You have plenty of free space in your hard disk
(600MB for the XP Setup Files and more for the backup
files which varies) and want to backup files inside
your hard disk.
You don't want to partition your hard disk for backup
purpose.
OPTIONAL: You want to backup the stuff in your hard
disk
Introduction
Before you begin, please read through the Notes.
By now, you probably know that invoking the SETUP.EXE
from the DOS Prompt will shoot you with a shocking message
"This program cannot be run in DOS Mode".
Many people simply install a new OS by just inserting
the CD and selecting the Upgrade option. This brings
unnecessary problems. Some are even scared of The Command
Prompt!
This document outlines the steps of how to [re]install
Windows XP in a computer with a Win9x, 2000 or XP operating
system. Basically, it shows how to backup stuff, delete
the previous OS and install XP without formatting the
hard disk. Started 3rd December 2001. Many links here
point to a file or folder in your hard drive, Internet
Explorer will prompt a Download Style dialog box when
you click at such a link. If Internet Explorer displays
a blank page, it indicates that the folder or file cannot
be found. Netscape 4.5 is a tad bit smarter and tells
you if the folder or file cannot be found via a dialog
box.
If it works for you, congrats. If it didn't work for
you, please post your problem in the Windows
XP Discussion Forum. You'll be helping future beginners,
and I'll be checking often.
Quick Directs
If you want to BACKUP your personal files (Favourites
(US - Favorites), Mp3s, Internet downloads) locally,
delete your previous OS files and install Windows
XP, proceed to Step 1.
If you want to DELETE Windows 9x, 2000 or XP completely
and install Windows XP, proceed to Step
2.
If you want to INSTALL Windows XP from DOS without
deleting your previous OS (or you're performing a
clean install), proceed to Step 3.
However, it is best to read through Step 1 to 3 to
get an idea of what I actually mean.
1) Backup
BACKUP important files to another hard disk (or
a zip disk, CD-R, etc.). You can also backup
to files to another folder in your hard disk drive,
just ensure the folder is not in Program Files or
any other Windows folders. Basic installation
guideline for hard disks:
Set the hard disk jumpers to Slave mode (refer
to the sticker(or manual) on the HD).
Connect IDE cable (the wide white cable) of
any device to the hard disk. Do NOT disconnect
the cable from your current hard disk, just connect
the black connector at the end or centre to the
backup hard disk and a spare power cable.
Start computer, go to BIOS (Usually some key
(or combo) needs to be pressed in setup), Auto-Detect
IDE Drives, save and restart.
If the hard disk cannot be found, check connections
and power. The position of the black connector
also matters.
Backup the important program files (popular programs,
if you have ways for other popular programs contact
me)
Morpheus downloaded and pending downloads (go
to Shared
Folder of Morpheus, copy the folder contents,
this will also copy downloads that hasn't been
completed too!)
Mp3s (your mp3 folder duh)
Favourites (go to the Favourites
folder of Internet Explorer and copy the files,
for Netscape, I believe there's a Save As feature
in the bookmark editing program. There's another
way of saving Favourites in IE, click on File,
Import and Export and save the Favourites (and
cookies if you want) to the backup folder.)
My Documents folder
(not that necessary, as it is outside of the Windows
folder)
Game savegames (usually saves are located in
a special folder in the game folder in the Program
Files folder, copy those)
Icq contact lists (Just copy the 2000b
(or 2000a)
folder in ICQ. Note: latest version of
2000b stores the contact list in the icq server,
but this way, you still save the history and chat
files.)
Outlook Express messages (search for files
with DBX extensions or try looking for them here,
click the folders inside. It should be located
within one folder (Outlook Express))
WebShots photos. (copy the contents of this
folder, or go to the Collections folder in the
Webshots folder.
Password files such as your website passwords,
etc. For WS_FTP Limited Edition, just copy the
WS_FTP.INI file from here.
Do NOT backup files to your desktop, save them
in a folder that is not within Windows and Program
Files, such as a folder called "Backup"
in the root directory ("C:\").
2) Deleting Windows 9x
DOUBLE-CHECK that you made a backup of the important
settings files. This erasing will remove your
Program Files folder and Windows folder.
Copy the file DELTREE.EXE
from the C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND folder into the root folder
("C:\"). This utility
makes it easy to delete whole folders (or directories)
and sub-folders (or sub-directories).
Copy the file SMARTDRV.EXE
from the C:\WINDOWS folder into the root folder ("C:\").
This utilitiy is used to speed up installations and
deletion of large files.
Make a boot disk. Make sure it allows you
to access your CD-ROM Drive, unless you have
copied the files to your hard drive. I've not tried
installing XP from the hard disk. If you're not installing
from hard disk, make sure the boot disk allows you
to access your CD-ROM Drive when you use it. Make
sure your boot disk WORKS!
With the disk in the floppy drive, restart the computer.
Choose CD-ROM Support if you're installing from CD-ROM
or the Without CD-ROM Support option if you're installing
from your hard disk. If you don't understand, just
choose CD-ROM Support.
You should be in the A:\>
prompt.
Enter the following commands in BLUE,
after each line, hit Enter.
C:
(Changes to your C Drive, substitute C with the
drive where it contains the SmartDrive utility
if your drive is different)
CD\
(Changes to your root folder, append the
folder name if you copied it into some other folder,
an example would be CD\UTILITIES, which means
you stored Smartdrive in the Utilities folder)
SMARTDRV
(Loads SmartDrive to memory, speeds up deleting
files and installing Windows XP. On successfuly
loading, it will just display a blank line. You
can type SMARTDRV again and it should show you
the status.)
CD\
(to go back to the root folder, if you are in
other folders)
DELTREE
PROGRA~1 (DELETES
your Program Files folder and contents, press
Y to the confirmation message)
DELTREE
WINDOWS (DELETES
your Windows folder and contents, press Y to the
confirmation message)
For Windows 2000 only: DELTREE
DOCUME~1 (DELETES
the personal settings of users)
At this point, you've basically deleted windows.
But, if you want to further clean up the hard disk,
enter DELTREE
*.* and press Y
to any folder and files that you think you don't need.
This includes IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, COMMAND.COM and all
those files that you were forbidden to delete. Do
not delete the backup folders or any other folder
you want to protect such as DOS Games, Mp3s and Internet
downloads. Try to clean up the Hard disk
by deleting useless files and folders that the previous
OS dumped.
You're done deleting your previous installation
of Windows.
3) Installing Windows XP
Last chance to delete any unnecessary files! (don't
bother about this step if you skipped Step 2 and 3)
If you've not done Step 2.8 where it involves loading
SmartDrive, load it by:
C:
(Changes to your C Drive, replace substitute C
with the drive where it contains the SmartDrive
utility if your drive is different)
CD\
(Changes to your root folder, append the
folder name if you copied it into some other folder,
an example would be CD\UTILITIES, which means
you stored Smartdrive in the Utilities folder)
CHECK: The prompt should now look like this:
C:\>
SMARTDRV
(Loads SmartDrive to memory installing Windows
XP. On successfuly loading, it will just display
a blank line. You can type SMARTDRV again and
it should show you the status.)
Assuming you're installing from the CD-ROM, enter
the following commands in BLUE,
after each line, hit Enter.
E:
(Changes to your CD-ROM Drive, substitute E for
the drive if it is something else)
CD\I386
(Changes to your Windows XP Setup folder)
CHECK: The prompt should now look like this:
E:\I386>
WINNT
(Starts the DOS Installation program.)
At this point, Windows XP Setup may complain if
you don't have SmartDrive loaded. The CD files will
be copied to your hard disk and your computer restarted
to the main setup program. Follow instructions and
you're on your way to getting the Windows eXPerience.
Happy installing!
After the XP installation is completed, play around
with the new environment. You have to reinstall the
programs back and move the backed up files back. Try
to get updated versions of the program from the developer's
site.
Notes
Microsoft has released a file that creates Boot
Disk Floppies for installing Windows XP. There is
a special version for Home
Edition and for the Professional
Edition. I didn't attempt this as it required
6 floppy disks,
installing from the CD is better.
However, this(including booting from CD) gives more
options in the Setup program, such as formatting your
C Drive with NTFS or FAT32 or converting the drive
to NTFS.
I think the SmartDrive utility should be in your
Windows 95/98/ME installation disk. I'm not sure about
this.
For Windows 2000 operating systems, the folder "Documents
and Settings" has to be deleted too.
I selected to stick with the FAT32 File System in
XP Setup. Your current files will be preserved when
you convert to a NTFS partition. It offers better
security features, performance-wise, I have not read
any improvements.
This guide can be used to reinstall Windows XP too!
Just replace Windows 2000 words with Windows XP, as
they use similar practices. However, Windows
2000 and XP save personalised user's files, mainly
My Documents, Favourites and Outlook Express files
in the user's Documents and Settings folder. This
is usually in the format of C:\Documents
and Settings\<UserName>
Revisions
5th January 2002 - Version 1.00 - 1.07
Added another way of backing up Internet Explorer
Favourites.
DELTREE.COM should be DELTREE.EXE.
Fixing of some spelling errors, highlighting
of important points and restructuring of the Introduction.
Added support info for Windows 2000 Operating
Systems and the new forum
link.